POP/ROCK - Feb. 18, 1987

The Japanese electronics firm Aiwa will start selling controversial digital audio tape (DAT) players in Japan next month in the face of fierce resistance from the American recording industry. An Aiwa spokesman said DAT players would be put on sale at $1,169 each on March 2. DAT prices will probably fall quickly, possibly to around $454 by next year as other makers put their products on the market, the spokesman said. To calm recording industry fears over DAT players, which are the first machines that can copy high-quality digital sound, Aiwa has fitted a computer chip to prevent direct copying through a digital signal--something the recording industry is seeking to make mandatory in Congress this session.